Mike
@mstefan.bsky.social
Grumpy old man who writes code. Believer in science, objective reality and human rights. The Earth is an oblate spheroid. Emojis in Unicode are a blight.
Pinned
Mike
@mstefan.bsky.social
· Feb 8
Every night before I go to sleep, I say aloud "computer, end program"
I continue to be disappointed.
I continue to be disappointed.
There's nothing quite like that special feeling when Microsoft flags your debug build with Win32/DefenseEvasion.A!ml
September 13, 2025 at 8:39 PM
There's nothing quite like that special feeling when Microsoft flags your debug build with Win32/DefenseEvasion.A!ml
Reposted by Mike
"We use coding agents like junior developers".
Cool. So you get the dual benefits of it being slower than an experienced developer to get a half-decent result *and* it never learns.
Bargain!
Cool. So you get the dual benefits of it being slower than an experienced developer to get a half-decent result *and* it never learns.
Bargain!
August 28, 2025 at 9:31 AM
"We use coding agents like junior developers".
Cool. So you get the dual benefits of it being slower than an experienced developer to get a half-decent result *and* it never learns.
Bargain!
Cool. So you get the dual benefits of it being slower than an experienced developer to get a half-decent result *and* it never learns.
Bargain!
The perfect vehicle for those who are tired of this life and wish to shuffle off their mortal coil.
when you realize you'll probably never drive the thin car
August 12, 2025 at 10:01 PM
The perfect vehicle for those who are tired of this life and wish to shuffle off their mortal coil.
The EPA rolling back the endangerment finding for greenhouse gasses really does seem like their response to our going over a cliff is "hell ya! let's punch the gas!"
July 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
The EPA rolling back the endangerment finding for greenhouse gasses really does seem like their response to our going over a cliff is "hell ya! let's punch the gas!"
Reposted by Mike
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
July 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
Everything is going great, completely normal on X.
July 10, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Everything is going great, completely normal on X.
We, as a species, are cooked. Nature needs to move on and try again.
July 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM
We, as a species, are cooked. Nature needs to move on and try again.
Reposted by Mike
Happy Canada Day 🍁
a black and white photo of a crowd of people with the words the canadians written on the bottom
Alt: a black and white photo of a crowd of people with the words "the canadians, they walk among us"
media.tenor.com
July 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Happy Canada Day 🍁
I had a lunch that included a cheese made with Carolina Reapers.
Now the real payment has come due.
Now the real payment has come due.
June 26, 2025 at 10:53 PM
I had a lunch that included a cheese made with Carolina Reapers.
Now the real payment has come due.
Now the real payment has come due.
Reposted by Mike
The BBB is “Robinhood in reverse.”
Make sure your reps have heard from you on this regardless of party.
🙏🏼 @ellecordova.bsky.social
Make sure your reps have heard from you on this regardless of party.
🙏🏼 @ellecordova.bsky.social
June 25, 2025 at 5:06 AM
The BBB is “Robinhood in reverse.”
Make sure your reps have heard from you on this regardless of party.
🙏🏼 @ellecordova.bsky.social
Make sure your reps have heard from you on this regardless of party.
🙏🏼 @ellecordova.bsky.social
My AC kicked on and I could swear I heard what sounded like two people having a conversation (very faint, in the background). It turned off, and the conversation stopped.
I may be going insane.
I may be going insane.
June 24, 2025 at 9:49 PM
My AC kicked on and I could swear I heard what sounded like two people having a conversation (very faint, in the background). It turned off, and the conversation stopped.
I may be going insane.
I may be going insane.
Reposted by Mike
every time I load a youtube video I get to watch my adblocker fighting for its life
June 24, 2025 at 12:46 AM
every time I load a youtube video I get to watch my adblocker fighting for its life
Reposted by Mike
Using this next time I need to explain a deadlock in software
June 21, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Using this next time I need to explain a deadlock in software
Reposted by Mike
happy Pride! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
remember to bring plenty of water, snacks, & sunscreen to the parade ok
remember to bring plenty of water, snacks, & sunscreen to the parade ok
June 7, 2025 at 8:23 PM
happy Pride! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
remember to bring plenty of water, snacks, & sunscreen to the parade ok
remember to bring plenty of water, snacks, & sunscreen to the parade ok
Just going to throw it out there: why "golden dome"? Gold is not a particularly durable metal and has low impact resistance. Titanium dome? Carbon nanotube? Tungsten? Even diamond would make more sense.
Kind of like naming a sportscar "sloth" or robot sentinel "soupcan".
Kind of like naming a sportscar "sloth" or robot sentinel "soupcan".
May 28, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Just going to throw it out there: why "golden dome"? Gold is not a particularly durable metal and has low impact resistance. Titanium dome? Carbon nanotube? Tungsten? Even diamond would make more sense.
Kind of like naming a sportscar "sloth" or robot sentinel "soupcan".
Kind of like naming a sportscar "sloth" or robot sentinel "soupcan".
Now there's a useful app.
May 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Now there's a useful app.
So we're just doing a variation on "The Running Man"?
"In 2025, the world's economy is in shambles, and America has become a totalitarian dystopia. Ben Richards, an impoverished 28-year-old resident of the fictional Co-Op City, is unable to find work..."
"In 2025, the world's economy is in shambles, and America has become a totalitarian dystopia. Ben Richards, an impoverished 28-year-old resident of the fictional Co-Op City, is unable to find work..."
May 16, 2025 at 1:06 AM
So we're just doing a variation on "The Running Man"?
"In 2025, the world's economy is in shambles, and America has become a totalitarian dystopia. Ben Richards, an impoverished 28-year-old resident of the fictional Co-Op City, is unable to find work..."
"In 2025, the world's economy is in shambles, and America has become a totalitarian dystopia. Ben Richards, an impoverished 28-year-old resident of the fictional Co-Op City, is unable to find work..."
Provide an example for the idiom "being thrown under the bus"
xAI blaming a new hire for changing the system prompt without asking first is, if true (it isn't) an indictment of xAI's access control practices and not the new hire
May 15, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Provide an example for the idiom "being thrown under the bus"
You know, they could just rename "Max" as HBO. They've spent decades building that brand; keep it, focusing on more quality, less slop. And fix the damned app so it actually works well.
Cable is dead. Let it go peacefully.
Cable is dead. Let it go peacefully.
May 14, 2025 at 6:11 PM
You know, they could just rename "Max" as HBO. They've spent decades building that brand; keep it, focusing on more quality, less slop. And fix the damned app so it actually works well.
Cable is dead. Let it go peacefully.
Cable is dead. Let it go peacefully.
As it turns out, punctuation does matter.
May 14, 2025 at 6:01 PM
As it turns out, punctuation does matter.
Just a heads up, if you use Visual Studio 2022 the latest update will very likely reset your IDE back to defaults (the only thing it didn't seem to reset was the font I was using for the code editor). And they are really, really wanting you to use Copilot.
May 14, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Just a heads up, if you use Visual Studio 2022 the latest update will very likely reset your IDE back to defaults (the only thing it didn't seem to reset was the font I was using for the code editor). And they are really, really wanting you to use Copilot.
I swear to the gods, Windows Update is the most fragile of system components.
May 14, 2025 at 4:23 PM
I swear to the gods, Windows Update is the most fragile of system components.
Broadly speaking, a good idea. However, this is also a platform problem. There are functions which can normalize Unicode, decomposing it into their base characters and diacriticals. That would convert those italicized characters into simple ASCII. It would also mitigate Unicode obsfucation.
Your periodic reminder that "fancy fonts" on places like Bluesky are unicode & are a nightmare for screen reader users. DON'T use for your name
Not only that, good lucky having anyone search for you in the search bar by name.
More examples in the original post on Masto: toot.cafe/@aardrian/11...
Not only that, good lucky having anyone search for you in the search bar by name.
More examples in the original post on Masto: toot.cafe/@aardrian/11...
May 12, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Broadly speaking, a good idea. However, this is also a platform problem. There are functions which can normalize Unicode, decomposing it into their base characters and diacriticals. That would convert those italicized characters into simple ASCII. It would also mitigate Unicode obsfucation.
I think "Schrödinger's Gift" just dropped.
That's only half true. Bribes have been observed, but, they exist in a quantum uncertainty state. As soon as you subject a bribe to any scrutiny the waveform collapses and it becomes a simple gift.
May 12, 2025 at 7:32 PM
I think "Schrödinger's Gift" just dropped.
The "finding out" phase of this FAFO maneuver is going to be extremely unpleasant and history is going to judge us harshly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has laid off thousands of workers since January. Current and former CDC staff are grappling with uncertainty about both their futures and public health.
Former CDC staff warn of "a five alarm fire"
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has laid off thousands of workers since January. Current and former CDC staff are grappling with uncertainty about both their futures and public health.
www.npr.org
May 8, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The "finding out" phase of this FAFO maneuver is going to be extremely unpleasant and history is going to judge us harshly.